Tue, Jun 30, 2020 page10

• World Business Quick Take

  • Agencies
  • • 
    • 
    • 

  UNITED KINGDOM

  Bond sales lifted to record

  The country is to sell a record amount of government debt this year as it battles the economic fallout from COVID-19, testing the level of market demand for its bonds. The Debt Management Office announced plans to sell another ￡50 billion (US$61.7 billion) of gilts, bringing its issuance this fiscal year through August to ￡275 billion. A survey of primary dealers forecast ￡412 billion of issuance for the year. While the Bank of England is helping to keep bond yields in check through its asset-purchase program, the latest figures are likely to add to concern over borrowing levels.

  JAPAN

  Retail sales drop 12.3%

  Retail sales last month fell 12.3 percent year-on-year as the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown measures delivered a heavy blow to consumer confidence and economic recovery prospects, Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry data showed yesterday. The decline followed a 13.9 percent drop in April, which was the biggest fall since March 1998, and was worse than an 11.6 percent fall forecast by economists in a Reuters poll. Compared with a month earlier, retail sales last month saw their first rise in three months, increasing a seasonally adjusted 2.1 percent following a 9.9 percent drop in April.

  CHINA

  Industrial firms’ profits rise

  Profits at industrial firms last month increased for the first time in six months, suggesting that the country’s economic recovery is gaining traction and brightening the outlook for manufacturing investment and jobs. Profits at industrial firms rose 6 percent year-on-year to 582.3 billion yuan (US$82.27 billion) last month, the National Bureau of Statistics said in a statement on Sunday. The rebound followed a 4.3 percent fall in April, and is its sharpest monthly gain since March last year. For the first five months of this year, industrial firms’ profits fell 19.3 percent from the same period last year to 1.84 trillion yuan.

  SAUDI ARABIA

  Foreign reserves inch up

  Foreign reserves rose slightly last month after record declines in the previous two months when the kingdom had used tens of billions of dollars to back investments of its sovereign wealth fund. Net foreign assets of the Saudi Arabian Monetary Authority increased to US$444.82 billion last month from US$444.1 billion in April, data from the central bank showed on Sunday. Saudi Arabia had transferred US$40 billion in reserves to the Public Investment Fund between March and April to back acquisitions of stakes in overseas companies.

  BANKING

  Commerzbank may cut jobs

  Commerzbank AG chief executive officer Martin Zielke might eliminate more than 7,000 jobs and close about 400 branches as he tries to respond to frustration among shareholders, including the German government and Cerberus Capital Management, over the pace of cost-cutting efforts, people familiar with the matter said. Zielke and Commerzbank chief financial officer Bettina Orlopp could present the cost-reduction targets as the cornerstone of a broader restructuring plan at a meeting of the supervisory board tomorrow, the people said. The final goals have not been decided yet, partly because several executives are skeptical about whether cuts of this scale are feasible. The leadership is also considering less extreme reductions, the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private.

  Comments will be moderated. Keep comments relevant to the article. Remarks containing abusive and obscene language, personal attacks of any kind or promotion will be removed and the user banned. Final decision will be at the discretion of the Taipei Times.
• Most Popular

  • 1

    German warships to pass through Strait

  • 2

    Sino-Russian air patrol designed to counter US

  • 3

    Court orders Ko Wen-je’s detention

  • 4

    Silicon photonics alliance formed

  • 5

    Ko Wen-je release quashed